Wrestling | 11/1/2016 11:28:00 AM
SAN FRANCISCO— The San Francisco State Gators' wrestling team will begin their 2016-17 this Thursday, November 3 as they face two Division I opponents in Cal Poly and Indiana University. The Gators will face the Mustangs at 1:30pm in the University Union Plaza at Cal Poly. Then at 5pm, the Gators will take on No. 27 Indiana University in Mott Athletics Center.
"We are very excited to finally to compete against outside competition," said 34
th-year head coach lars Jensen. "The team has been training very hard for the past couple of weeks and its ready to get the season started."
After Thursday's two non-conference duals, the Gators will host the 41
st Annual Alumni/Purple Gold Scrimmage this Saturday, November 5 at 11am and the 49
th Annual SFSU CC/College Open this Sunday, November 6 beginning at 9am.
"Our first couple of weeks of our schedule are difficult with four Division I's and two invitationals," added Jensen. The Gators will face No. 15 Rutgers and Cal State Bakersfield in Bakersfield on November 11.
MATCH NOTES:
GATORS: San Francisco State returns 7 starters from last year's team that went 6-7 last year in their duals. The Gators finished 41
st at the Nationals last year and had qualified for Nationals for the 53
rd straight year.
8 RANKED: Eight Gators are ranked in the top 8 in their respective weight classes in the d2wrestle.com NCAA Division II Super Region IV Pre-season rankings.
Sam Alnassiri is first at 285 followed by
Johnathon Costa who is 5
th at 197.
Joshua Weinberg (141),
Dylan Furtado (149),
Landon Myers (157) and
Mike Marshall (174) are all sixth in the region. Two Gator grapplers are seventh in
Matt Gamble (125) and
Tyson Kuahine (165). As a team, the Gators are tied for sixth with Newman (KSC) in the preseason regional rankings.
#5 NATIONALLY: Sam Alnassiri is ranked fifth in the d2wrestle.com NCAA Division II National Pre-season poll. Last season, the senior finished third in the Super Region IV and RMAC Championships and qualified for the Nationals.
53 AND COUNTING: The Gators are looking to extend their streak to 54 of qualifying a wrestler for the NCAA Division II National Championships. This year's Championships are set for March 10-11 in Birmingham, Ala. The last time the Nationals were held in Alabama, the Gators finished in 10
th place. Naveed Bagheri was a National Champion at 141 and current assistant coach,
Isaiah Jimenez placed 5
th at 165 to earn All-American honors.
LAST YEAR: Last year, the Gators lost 29-8 to Cal Poly as
Sam Alnassiri and
Jordan Gurrola picked up wins at 285 and 133. At last year's 48
th Annual SFSU CC/College Open
Tyson Kuahine captured the title at 165.
MUSTANGS: Cal Poly went 3-9 last year and the Mustangs have 9 starters back. Leading the way is JT Goodwin who went 18-11 last year and placed fourth at the Pac 12 Championships at 197 while Colton Schilling also placed fourth at 141 and went 12-9. Colt Shorts went 15-10 at 157 while placing 5
th.
HOOSIERS: Indiana went 6-7 last year including 3-6 in the Big 10. The Hoosiers had their 53
rd All-American in Nate Jackson who placed 5
th at the Division I Nationals while helping Indiana to a 28
th place team finish. They are currently ranked 27
th in the nation in Division I and have two grapplers ranked Nationally in Elisha Oliver (125) and Jackson (174). Oliver is 16 and 17
th depending on what rankings you are looking at while Jackson is fourth or fifth.
UP NEXT: After this weekend, the Gators will return to the mat on Friday, November 11 in Bakersfield for two more duals against Division I opponents. San Francisco State will face Cal State Bakersfield at 4pm on Nov. 11 followed by No. 15 Rutgers University at 5:45pm.
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Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.
Gator Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For more information, visit SF State Athletics' website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
